


i count your ribs beneath my fingertips / will you sing me to sleep?

by joltik



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Background/Onesided Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, During Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Friends With Benefits, This isn't a happy fic, Unrequited Love, listen i like edelthea but i like it even more as a testament to edelgard's flaws
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:22:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joltik/pseuds/joltik
Summary: “You know…” Dorothea says a moment later, tone softer, “we could’ve worked out. We could’ve been good together. This could have been...something real. But that’s never going to happen while you’re still caught up on the professor, and that’s okay!“At the end of the day, though...I know you’re using me.”
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	i count your ribs beneath my fingertips / will you sing me to sleep?

**Author's Note:**

> to be clear i quite like edelthea and do think they could work out!! but i'm also...super interested in scenarios where they don't. sorry.
> 
> i love edelgard dearly and i also think dorothea's the perfect character to call her out on her shit. she's emotionally aware enough and there's only so much she's willing to take

Dorothea has come to visit her quarters again tonight. She has no doubt that the gossips will have plenty to say on the matter come morning, but Edelgard pays little heed to the matter; their relationship both is and isn’t the scandal such people likely perceive it to be, but regardless, both her attraction to women and her belief in the equality of commoners are matters she stands by and feels no shame in. In that regard, it’s beneficial if anything, helping her to sort through which nobles will be problems down the line, after the war ends and once things are stable enough for her to begin her reforms in earnest.

She _would_ prefer to keep her private affairs to herself, of course, but such is the fate of a public figure.

Dorothea’s a beautiful sight, as ever—her carmine dress almost but not quite blending into the crimson of the bedsheets on which she’s seated in repose, the scarlet of her lips and the slight rosiness to her skin, the waves of russet hair sprawling at her back. Edelgard feels compelled to capture her lips in a kiss—though as ever, it feels like she’s quickly the one captured instead, Dorothea’s greater level of skill and experience shining through.

This is the way things generally go, between the two of them: Dorothea lets her take the lead, but it’s always the steady hand of the songstress that ends up guiding them, not the emperor’s.

Dorothea’s mouth, hot on hers, the softness of her lips. Dorothea’s tongue, dancing between Edelgard’s lips with as much grace as the woman herself would on any stage. They explore each others’ mouths tentatively at first, but they’ve done this enough by now that it doesn’t take long to escalate.

Dorothea’s hand on Edelgard’s face, before dipping down, caressing her neck, her collarbone, her shoulders, and eventually tentatively playing with the fastenings to Edelgard’s dress. Edelgard abruptly pulls away, pushes Dorothea’s hand away. She shakes her head twice, firmly, hating the adrenaline running through her, that she still cannot fight her tremble at the thought of being seen. “Not...not yet,” she says in a voice that feels far too weak, foreign, to her ears.

(The thought runs through her, unbidden, that if it had been Byleth, if it had been her professor, then maybe…)

The look in Dorothea’s eyes makes her feel as though she’s been laid bare regardless, though mercifully she doesn’t say anything. Instead, Dorothea pulls back, pursing her lips for a moment in consideration before, with a slight drop of her shoulders, she raises a hand to undo her collar. She opens herself up far more freely than Edelgard, baring her shoulders before her, her collarbone, her breasts.

It’s not her first time seeing them, but they are always a sight that leaves her momentarily stunned. They are full and round, with the dusty red peaks of her nipples unfurling into the pale blush of her areolas.

“Beautiful,” she murmurs, taking one into her hand. Dorothea’s skin is softer, smoother than she could’ve imagined before feeling it for herself. Bigger, more supple than her own, and unmarred by scarring...the texture fascinates her, as does the fact that they are just barely too large to fit her hand around.

(Byleth’s were slightly larger, she thinks, and she’s often found herself wondering how they compare...whether they’re as soft, if the areolas were large or small, the color, how they’d feel in her hands...she pointedly, deliberately, does not think of this now.)

She could play with Dorothea’s breasts for hours, memorizing the feel, the pliancy of her skin, the soft sounds she coaxes out of her—as beautiful as any opera. Now, though, she doesn’t linger for long; she thinks maybe she’s ready for more. Seeing more of her, exploring more. She reaches to undo Dorothea’s dress further, only to be stopped by Dorothea’s hand, firm on hers.

“Sorry, Edie,” she says, with a tone and expression Edelgard can’t quite read, “but I think that’s about as far as this little fling is going to go.”

Edelgard’s brow furrows. “That’s…”

“It’s hardly fair for me to do everything that you can’t trust me to do yourself,” Dorothea says. Edelgard stares on, gutted, and Dorothea’s gaze softens a little bit. “I know, that isn’t entirely fair...”

“No…” Edelgard says, turning away, “my apologies, Dorothea...it’s...that kind of thing tends to be difficult for me.”

“Honestly, that..isn’t even really the issue,” Dorothea says, and Edelgard stares at her once again. “Really, it’s just...this has been fun, Edie, but I’m done.”

Edelgard feels genuinely lost, slightly hurt. “What do you mean by that?”

“I just...don’t see any real point in going further than this with someone with no interest in committing. You’re a dear friend and I care about you deeply, but I only have so much time and energy, and I do need to invest in my future.”

“You’re still...caught up in that, I see…”

“Well, I’m not exactly the emperor, you know. I’m still just Dorothea.” Edelgard tries not to feel hurt by the bitterness in her tone. “You know…” Dorothea says a moment later, tone softer, “we could’ve worked out. We could’ve been good together. This could have been...something real. But that’s never going to happen while you’re still caught up on the professor, and that’s okay! 

“At the end of the day, though...I know you’re using me.”

Edelgard recoils as if stung, the denial immediately falling from her lips. “I’m not—”

Dorothea interrupts her, still calm. “It might not be your intention. But, Edie...I know what it’s like to be used. I know what it’s like to use people. I’m not mad—I’d be a hypocrite if I was. But I’m done.”

Edelgard watches as Dorothea fastens her dress back on, pulling herself together until she looks as composed as ever, like none of this had even happened, as she searches for her voice. “Dorothea...I’m sorry for whatever I’ve done to hurt you, but…”

“It’s not your fault, I suppose,” Dorothea says. “Blame it on me for feeling.” She stands up, looks back at Edelgard, and says, “Goodbye, Edie.”

Then she leaves, and Edelgard’s alone, once again.


End file.
